Pancake day is finally here, or rather, Shrove Tuesday!
A day that makes eating your body weight in pancakes acceptable and calories not existent. It's amazing how many people each year meaninglessly attempt to make their own pancakes, before giving up and popping to the local shop for the pre-made version. Once you get the hang of it, it's one of the simplest recipes around!

So, whether you like towering stacks of fluffy buttermilk pancakes or more delicate, lacy thin crepes, we have a variety of different recipe options for you to try and test ready to impress, tomorrow!

Classic Crepe

Ingredients and Method

1. Start by sifting your flour into a mixing bowl. Don’t be tempted to skip this step and this makes sure your pancakes are light, fluffy & lump free.

2. Next, crack your eggs into your flour and whisk together. Slowly add your milk into the mixture whilst making sure to keep mixing. An electric mixer is perfect for this stage if you have one to keep that mixture looking smooth. You should be left with a smooth, think batter, looking for a slightly thick milk consistency.

3. It's now time to get frying! Be sure to pre-heat your frying pan and add a knob of butter to grease the surface ready for your first pancake. Use a ladle or a jug to pour your mixture into the bubbling pan.Cook for about a minute until you start to see small air pockets rising and the edges lifting and turning slightly brown. Then, flip it over (extravagantly as you'd like) and cook for the same amount of time.

And there you have it, your first pancake! Once you've mastered this process, you can get more creative with your recipes. Read on to discover the newly trending pancake recipes for you bold bakers!

Red Velvet Pancakes

It's been impossible to ignore the growing popularity for anything red velvet. So why not try making red velvet pancakes?! Show off your inner Nigella Lawson and give this extra fancy pancake recipe a try...

Ingredients and Method

4 150g plain flour

1 tblspoon best cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

3 tblspoons granulated sugar

1 pinch of salt

150 ml buttermilk or runny plain yogurt

1 large egg

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Red food colouring

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarb, sugar and the pinch of salt. Then, whisk together the buttermilk or plain yoghurt, egg, veg oil, vanilla and red food colouring together in a measuring jug.

2. Whisk the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients to make a thick batter. Again, heat up and grease your frying pan whilst adding small ladlefuls of the batter, waiting for bubbles to appear on the surface. Remember, the hotter your pan, the quicker they cook, so be sure not to burn them! They should normally take around a minute on each side.

3. Finally, serve up your pancakes with a dollop or two of creme fraiche, raspberries and grated dark chocolate!

Whilst on the subject of cake recipes combined with pancakes, why not continue to try the carrot cake pancake?!

Carrot Cake Pancakes with cream cheese frosting

These pancakes have everything you love about carrot cake, but now you can eat them for breakfast!

Ingredients and Method

1 ¼ cup (6oz/180g) all purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ Cup (1 ½ oz / 45g) brown sugar

1 ¼ cup (10oz/280g) milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cup (5 ½ /150g) carrots, peeled chopped

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Cream Cheese Frosting

½ pack (4 oz/115g) cream cheese, room temperature

¼ cup (2floz/ 115g) cream

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a blender add in chopped carrots and pulse until fine. Then add the vanilla, egg and milk to the carrots until it is well blended and the mixture turns thick and orange.

2. In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar. Then, add the carrot mixture and oil to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Don't over-mix or your pancakes will end up flat and tough.

3. Then, perform the usual pan procedure and add a ladle full of mixture to a pre-heated, greased pan, cooking for around a minute on each side.

4. For the cream cheese frosting, place the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar in the bowl and beat/mix the mixture until cream cheese is smooth.

5. Add in the cream and continue to beat until the mix thickens. This mat take around 2 minutes.

Serve with a generous blob of the cream cheese frosting, a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkle of toasted chopped walnuts, voila!

If these recipes fit for any sweet tooth don't take your fancy, ditch the sugar and opt for a savoury pancake version!

Cheese and corn Pancakes with caramelised banana and smoky bacon

This recipe inspired by the creative genius Jamie Oliver, is bound to excite your sweet and savoury tastebuds. Here is how to create this delicious recipe!

Ingredients and Method

1 x 340 g tin of sweetcorn

6 spring onions

1 fresh red chilli

2 large free-range eggs

200 g cottage cheese

150 g wholemeal self-raising flour

50 ml semi-skimmed milk

olive oil

4 small bananas

1. Start by tipping the sweetcorn and its juice into a bowl, then trim your spring online and slice finely with your chilli. Add these to the bowl along with your eggs, cottage cheese and flour. Mix together, then gradually loosen with the milk to a thick batter. Lightly season with sea salt and black pepper.

2. Place 1 rasher of bacon in the pan, making sure to move them around the pan whilst they release their smoky fat. Then, add your mixture to the pre-heated pan and flatted them slightly.

3.Then peel 1 banana into chunky slices at an angle. Add these banana slices to your pan to caramelise the, turning when golden.

Lastly, plate up your pancake extravaganza as a towering stack, alternating the banana and bacon in-between to wow your guests!

We hope our favourite Julian Charles pancake recipes for beginners and novice bakers have given you some inspiration for the big day tomorrow, we would love to see how your pancakes turned out!

Upload a picture of your finished pancakes, enjoying them with your friends and family onto social media with the hashtag #JCPancakeday and join the conversation!